Private Schools Request Financial Support To Meet CBC Requirements For Establishing JSS.
Private school owners have asked the government to consider extending capitation to private institutions in order to effectively implement a Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC).
They stated, through the Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA), that the provision of soft loans and grants would allow them to invest in critical infrastructure ahead of the rollout of junior secondary school next year.
The chairman of the association, Charles Ochome, expressed concern that most schools were struggling to meet new requirements for the establishment of a junior wing of a secondary school, as outlined in the 2-6-3-3-3 system.
“The government should provide learning materials and capitation funds to all children without discriminating against those in private schools.
“All children are Kenyan children irrespective of institutions that they choose to enrol. There is neither a public nor private child,” he said in Kisumu on Friday.
Mr Ochome expressed regret that private schools were not included in the Sh8 billion announced for the establishment of classrooms in public schools to aid in the transition to junior secondary schools.
KPSA revealed that they had implored the government to consider providing financial assistance to private schools in the form of concessional loans repayable at low-interest rates for the establishment of junior secondary school facilities.
Ochome stated that the fund will go a long way toward relieving pressure on already overburdened public secondary schools.
Mudasa Academy Director George Mulanya emphasized the importance of changing policies to include Kenyan children.
“Public policies should be formulated with Kenyan children in mind. The policies should be realistic and alive to our current resources and availability of social amenities,” he said during the homecoming of new office bearers at Roya Swiss Hotel in Kisumu.
Noting that more than 60% of students are enrolled in private institutions, he stated that it was unfair to exclude the majority of school-age children.
Their comments follow Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha’s reiteration of the government’s readiness to implement the new curriculum.
The CS expressed confidence that most public institutions will complete the construction of 5,400 classrooms by the end of March after commissioning the first completed classroom at Simero Secondary in Ugunja Sub County.
Magoha said he was optimistic that the government will complete 80 to 90 percent of all classrooms across the country in the next month.
The CS stated that the infrastructure expansion program is critical to the success of the new curriculum because the government is attempting to accommodate students who will begin junior secondary school next year.
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“I have been to different parts of the country and I am satisfied with the ongoing works,” he said.
Prof Magoha also stated that the second phase of building 10,000 classrooms will begin near the end of April, following the marking of national exams.
He also revealed that the purchase of books for grades six and seven is still in progress.
Private Schools Request Financial Support To Meet CBC Requirements For Establishing JSS.
